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Joel G. Curran, vice chancellor of communications at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and award-winning public relations professional, has been appointed vice president of public affairs and communications at the University of Notre Dame, president Rev. John I. Jenkins, SCC, announced today.
“Joel Curran is a talented and highly accomplished leader who has served in higher education and other industries, and is someone who brings a passion for communications and public relations work,” said the Father Jenkins. “We are fortunate to welcome him to Notre-Dame.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to join the University of Notre Dame leadership team under the leadership of Father Jenkins,” said Curran. “With its Catholic mission, elite academics, rapidly growing research enterprise, and high performance athletics program, Notre Dame is truly unique among the world’s leading research institutions. I look forward to meeting our students, faculty and staff and working collaboratively with them to continue to bring Notre Dame’s incredible history and reputation to life.
A UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus in 1986, Curran returned to his alma mater in 2013 as the University’s first vice chancellor of communications, responsible for defining the communications and reputation management strategies of the one of the country’s leading public research universities. Curran has built a high performing communications unit comprised of over 50 staff across a broad portfolio of communications disciplines including social media, web publishing, visual arts, internal communications, media relations and executive communications. He also oversaw the Office of Public Records, UNC Creative and the UNC Visitor Center.
He has been a senior communications strategist and adviser to the University on a wide range of high-profile issues and initiatives specific to Carolina and contemporary higher education more generally. These included issues related to campus diversity, equity and inclusion; historical academic and sporting challenges; and very polarizing issues surrounding the university’s associations with its Confederate history and the names of buildings associated with white supremacists of the 19th and early 20th centuries. His team also sparked public engagement and awareness around the many new initiatives stemming from a landmark $ 4.25 billion fundraising campaign, with stories celebrating the success of students and faculty. During the pandemic, Curran’s team helped tell the stories of academic researchers and thought leaders working at the forefront of the country’s response to COVID-19.
Curran was also the university’s resource person for its city-business relations and was the senior administrator of North Carolina Public Radio WUNC.
Before returning to Carolina, Curran spent 14 years in public relations and advertising agencies in Chicago and New York. He spent more than five years at MSLGROUP as general manager of the Chicago / Midwest region office, tripling the size of the office before being appointed to head the company’s flagship New York office. In 2010, he was named Chicago PR Professional of the Year by the Chicago Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Prior to MSLGROUP, he spent nine years at leading independent advertising agency Cramer-Krasselt, where he headed the firm’s award-winning integrated public relations firm, CKPR.
Curran spent the beginning of his career with the Walt Disney Co., starting in college as the skipper of the legendary Jungle Cruise attraction and tour guide for the theme park. He began his professional career as an Associate Publicist at Walt Disney World and went on to serve in theme park brand management and within Disney’s announced corporate synergy function at Walt Disney World, l Disney’s network television marketing unit and Disney’s professional sports operation, where he worked on the company’s acquisition of the California Angels baseball club.
The Office of Public Affairs and Communications à Notre Dame consists of Marketing Communications, Multimedia Services, Print Services, Web Services, Media Relations, Internal Communications, Strategic Content, Issue Management, Notre Dame Magazine, Government Relations local and state, federal government relations, community engagement and the Robinson community. Learning center.
Curran will take office at Notre Dame on November 1.
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